Obama Nominates Kristie Kenney as U.S. Ambassador to Thailand
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts:
President Obama said, “I am proud to nominate these accomplished individuals to represent our nation abroad. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in these important roles, and I look forward to working with them to strengthen our global partnerships.” Kristie A. Kenney, Nominee for Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, Department of State Kristie A. Kenney is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She most recently served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines. Prior to that, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ecuador. Her Washington, D.C assignments have included serving as the Executive Secretary of the Department of State, Director of the State Department Operations Center, and as a member of the National Security Council staff under President Clinton. She also served in Argentina, Switzerland and Jamaica. She received a Master’s Degree from Tulane University and a B.A. from Clemson University. US Names Thailand Envoy, Straits Times, July 16 PRESIDENT Barack Obama on Thursday named veteran diplomat Kristie Kenney as the US ambassador to Thailand, where political tensions are running high after deadly street protests. Ms Kenney most recently served as ambassador to the other key US ally in South-east Asia, the Philippines, where she helped smooth out relations through a series of incidents including rape allegations against a US Marine. The nomination as ambassador to Thailand requires Senate approval. She would replace Eric John, who is completing three years in his post. If confirmed, Ms Kenney would have to tread carefully in Thailand's complicated politics. Thailand in May summoned Mr John after a senior US envoy met with 'Red Shirt' protesters, who have sought a US mediatory role. The Red Shirts' two-month protest in central Bangkok descended into several outbreaks of violence that left 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 injured, ending in a bloody army crackdown. Ms Kenney, who has also served as US ambassador to Ecuador, was known in the Philippines for her public diplomacy including taking to blogs and Facebook to reach out to Filipinos. Bill Burns Visit US urges Thailand to end emergency rule, Reuters, July 16 A senior U.S. official urged Thailand on Friday to end a three-month state of emergency that allows the government to arrest and hold people without charge, censor the media and restrict public gatherings. U.S. Under Secretary of State Bill Burns made the comment during a news conference with Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya at the start of an official visit to Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines. "Clearly, the United States hopes that the state of emergency, that the decree, can be lifted as soon as possible," Burns told reporters during a brief press conference. Attempts to forcibly disperse thousands of ant-government protesters in April and May sparked a crisis that killed 90 people and wounded nearly 2,000. Dozens of buildings were set ablaze. Leaders of the movement were arrested and accused of terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of death. "We believe our friends in Thailand best serve their own interest through a peaceful resolution of political differences," he said with Kasit by his side. The comment was made more than a week after the government extended the state of emergency for another three months in about a quarter of the country, saying anti-government elements continued to pose a security threat. The law gives broad powers to the security forces, including the right to detain suspects for up to 30 days without charge and shut media deemed to incite "public panic" and violence. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who met with Burns later on Friday, said the government was making process in its national reconciliation process. "If everything goes well and in an orderly fashion next year, we could hold an election then," Abhisit told reporters after the meeting. Mission Info The Council has added to our 2010 Thailand mission itinerary the following meetings: Lunch on July 29 with Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak Lunch on July 30 with Suranand Vejjajiva Any remaining mission registrations should be recieved by Tuesday, July 20th at the latest to participate. Financial Services IMF raises Thailand’s GDP forecast to as much as 8% The International Monetary Fund said Thailand’s economy may expand as much as 8 percent this year after deadly political protests ended last quarter without derailing growth. Gross domestic product will grow between 7 percent and 8 percent in 2010, compared with a previous target of 7 percent, the IMF said today in a statement distributed in Bangkok. Thailand’s central bank this week raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in almost two years after surging exports helped the nation weather two months of anti- government protests that hurt tourism and disrupted some manufacturing. The $272 billion economy grew 12 percent in the first three months of this year, the most since 1995. “Thailand’s economy has shown remarkable resilience to shocks over the past year,” Joshua Felman, assistant director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, told reporters today in Bangkok. “The process of normalization is going to continue for the rest of the year.” Foreign Investors expand stake in Thailand, says PM, MCOT, July 15 Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Wednesday said that foreign investors have continued their plans to expand their stakes in Thailand, despite investment problems in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate. Food & Agriculture Thailand, Indonesia see low sugar output, International Business Times, July 15 Thailand and Indonesia expect sugar output this year to drop by 20 percent and 4 percent, respectively, on bad weather conditions. Thailand , the world's second largest sugar exports after Brazil, expects to produce as low as 6 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop season because of a severe drought, according to an official of the country's sugar board.
Information & Communications Technology AIS shrugs off Korn’s plans for 2G, Bangkok Post, July 16 Advanced Info Service, the country's largest mobile phone network, has downplayed concerns over the Finance Ministry's attempt to convert existing 2G revenue-sharing concessions into licence-based agreements. Somprasong Boonyachai, executive chairman of Shin Corp, the parent company of AIS, said the firm needed only to negotiate with TOT Plc and CAT Telecom which oversee its concessions. "We are in full compliance with the terms of Thai law," he said. "We have never violated the law." AIS pays 25% of its turnover under a revenue-sharing concession to TOT. Both DTAC and True Move have revenue-sharing agreements with CAT but they are structured differently and they claim their costs are higher than AIS's. Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has been seeking for a way to level the playing field and cut telecom concession fees to 12.5% across the board. He also wants to change revenue-sharing concessions into licence agreements with fixed terms of 15 years. Mr Korn also asked the National Telecommunications Commission to raise the overall 3G licence fee from the current 6% of expected revenue to 12.5%. AIS's concession is scheduled to expire in 2015. Concessions operated by second-ranked DTAC and third-ranked True Move will expire in 2018 and 2013, respectively. Mr Somprasong also urged the government to issue 3G licences by September as scheduled despite the timeframe being very tight. "It's time for Thailand to have 3G mobile broadband services in order to enhance its competitive advantage," he said. "3G is (now) cheaper considering the economy of scale." Any further delays in implementing the licensing of 3G services would result in local operators shouldering high maintenance costs of their existing 2G equipment, he said. AIS plans to invest 75 billion baht over the next three years - at a rate of 25 billion a year - to build a 3G network. Politics Five impeachment cases cleared for PM, 3 more pending, The Nation, July 16 The National Anti Corruption Commission has decided to drop five impeachment cases against the prime minister and ordered additional probes in three pending cases, NACC member Klanarong Chantik said on Friday. Eight impeachment complaints were filed since PM Abhisit Vejjajiva took office on December 17, 2008. In the first case, Abhisit was targetted for probe on unconstitutional conduct related to his election boycott in 2006. His opponents argued for impeachment due to what they termed as his unconstitutional conduct. The nine-member NACC ruled in an unanimous decision to drop the case on the ground that Abhisit was not the prime minister at the time of the alleged wrongdoing. Under the constitutional provisions, the impeachment can only be activated for violations committed by invoking the power of the office in question. In the second case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter and breaking from political traditions by causing the alliance switch to pave way for his government to come to power. The NACC made a similar decision to drop the case because it happened when Abhisit had no executive power. In the third case, Abhisit was accused of violating the charter by naming Kasit Piromya as the foreign minister. The NACC decided to launch the additional probe into the matter. Even though Kasit was not in office when he was a speaker for the yellow-shirt rally at the Suvarnabhumi Airport, the government is sponsoring a draft legislation on airport safety. The draft is seen as lenient to the yellow shirts because if it is enacted, it will be favourable to the yellow shirts because the besieging of airports would be penalised by a fine instead of a more serious penalty for terrorism. The NACC has ordered for checks on Kasit's role in connection with the draft before it would rule on the impeachment of Abhisit. In the fourth case, the NACC decided to suspend the probe on Abhisit related to his alleged interference in the shuffling of the officials in the Culture Ministry. The case is linked to a separate investigation involving the conduct of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaug. The NACC will return to the case involving Abhist after the completion of its investigation on Suthep. In the fifth case, Abhisit faced the complaint on the Democrat Party financial records related to the Bt258 million donation. The NACC dropped the case on the ground that it happened in 2004, before Abhisit took office. In the sixth case, Abhisit was accused of neglecting to safeguard the territorial integrity and the sovereignty in the disputed area near Preha Vihear Temple. The NACC ruled to drop the case after finding that the government had consistently protested against any territorial violations and that it did not condoned the unilateral decision by Cambodian government to construct a road near the temple. In the seventh case, the NACC dropped its investigation because Abhisit did not invoke his prime ministerial power when his Democrat Party certified Thanin Chaisamut as the electoral candidate for the Satun Provincial Organisation Administration. In the last case on SMS, the NACC ordered the additional probe to look into the tax issue. Abhisit and Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij were involved in sending out SMS as the public service. Although the SMS as public service had followed past precedents since 2003, Korn granted income tax exemption for SMS revenues he deemed as the public service. In the past, the people did not respond to public-service SMS. But in this case, they sent replies to messages from Abhisit. This generated revenues at Bt3 per reply for mobile operators. The NACC needs to examine the tax implications before ruling whether to activate impeachment. Verdict on dissolution likely by October, The Nation, July 115 Since Bt29m (S$1.2 million) subsidy case against Democrat Party is less complicated than the Bt258m (S$11 million) one on donations, hearing is expected to be completed in just a few weeks, making an early ruling by the Constitution Court a distinct possibility, says Abhisit Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that the Constitution Court verdict on the first case of Democrat Party dissolution could come as early as October. The case involves a Bt29-million (S$1.2 million) state subsidy that the Election Commission accuses the ruling party of misusing. The court will soon set hearing schedules based on the number of prosecution and defence witnesses. ince this case is less complicated than the one that was submitted to the Constitution Court on Tuesday, the hearing is expected to be completed in just a few weeks, meaning a verdict could be delivered in October or November, Abhisit told The Nation. Abhisit and other senior Democrats appeared less anxious about the Bt29-million case than was reported earlier. The party hopes to overturn charges of irregularities in the use of the subsidy to produce election-campaign materials by depicting it as just a case of an incomplete accounting report. Even if the court rules that the party is guilty and thus has to be dissolved, senior Democrats believe there remains a chance for party executives to escape five-year bans from politics. Abhisit admitted he could not escape responsibility because he was the one who signed the relevant financial reports, though the campaign materials were ordered and produced before he became party leader. "What I'm wondering is whether the court can still dissolve our party if it is dissolved for the first case," Abhisit said, half-jokingly. He was quick to add that the two cases involved two different sets of party executives, both of which stand to face five-year political bans.
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